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The US government sued California over its regulation of eggs and chickens, claiming that “unnecessary red tape” provoked an egg price spike across the country.
“The laws and regulations challenged by the complaint impose costly requirements on farmers that have the effect of raising egg prices for American consumers by prohibiting farmers across the country from using commonly accepted agricultural methods that helped keep eggs affordable,” said a statement from the Department of Justice.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, targeted three pieces of legislation: AB 1437, Proposition 2 and Proposition 12.
It argued that nationwide egg regulation is the responsibility of the federal government, rather than states, to allow for “national uniformity”. California can regulate farms within the state, but it cannot impose requirements on eggs from other states that are sold in California, said the lawsuit.
The disputed laws impose a number of requirements related to food safety and animal welfare. For example, Proposition 2 prevents farmers from confining a chicken to the extent where it is unable to “lie down, stand up, fully extend its limbs, and turn around freely”.
This is not the first time that California’s egg regulations have sparked legal challenges. Six states sued California in 2014, although the plaintiffs lost the case in both a federal district court and a court of appeals.
In March this year, the US Department of Justice also launched an investigation to determine whether egg producers were price fixing during the bird flu outbreak.
Major producer Cal-Maine Foods, probed by the DOJ, reported net income of $508.5mn for the December to February quarter, a 247% year-on-year increase.
In 2024, egg prices rose 65%, although they started to fall again in April this year.
Earlier this year, Turkey agreed to send 5,000 tonnes of eggs to the US by July to help alleviate the shortage.
